Another Giveaway!!

We're doing an end of summer giveaway on the blog. There will be opportunities to win really cool books. If you would like to win a copy of my book, Pickup Games, leave a comment. Toward the end of the month, I'll announce the winner.

Pickup Games is a spin-off of Reasonable Doubt. It takes place five years later as Mick Webber attempts to put life back together. Here's the back cover details:

When Mick Webber gets a new job hosting a college basketball show, he is less than thrilled to learn he will be co-hosting with Cara Jones, a pretty brunette trying to get over her failed engagement. From the start it is clear the two will not be playing nice, and work soon turns into a battlefield. But as the season progresses and the two are forced to work together more closely, they begin to see that first impressions can often be deceiving.

Post a comment and you'll be entered to win. Make sure to come back for more chances to win other books from Writing Fortress authors.

Character

I know I usually write about humor, but this time I just had to blog about an author who I admire named Georgette Heyer. She lived and wrote from the early 1900's to the 1970's and her specialty was regency romances. I love her books because they are clean and beautifully written, most especially the vivid characterization of her main characters. Her characters are so full of life they just pop out of the pages at you. You literally fall in love with them. I have been trying to study her works to find out why this is, and I think that I have discovered several reasons.

1. They are fallible- Her characters have faults and plenty of them. It is so refreshing to read about 'real' people, especially as they struggle in a time when it wasn't okay to be 'real'.

2. The characters keep us guessing- The characters in her books are always doing something wierd for some reason that you never find out until the end.

3. They grow- Georgette is an expert at showing how a character grows and changes from the beginning to the end of the story.

4. Her character's dialogue is witty and fun and full of Characterization- Some of the dialogue in her books are riotous in their humor and Characterization, for example in her novel "Frederica" a young child who's about to live with a Marquis who has fallen in love with his sister asks him, "Would it be all right if you built me a workshop if I promised not to blow anything up...at least very much?"

4. She shows, rather than tells- When you read this passage from one of her books called, Devil's Cub you will see what I mean:

"The man in the coach drew his right hand out of his pocket at last. There was an elegant silver-mounted pistol in it, still smoking. The gentleman threw it on to the seat beside him, and crushed the charred and smouldering portion of his greatcoat between very long white fingers."

You can just feel from this passage how smooth, cold, and emotionless this man is. And the best part is we get to read about how he grows from this cold emotoinless state and how he got there. Georgette is wonderful at not letting out these details too early and keeping us in suspense.

If you want to improve your characters and make them more vivid I highly suggest reading a few of Georgette Heyer's novels. I have found that by studying a master's work, I gain many insights that make my writing better.

Authorship, A Creative Journey

I have been thinking and it dawned on my that I have never formally introduced myself.

Hello. My name is JoAnn Arnold from sunny Santa Clara, Utah and I have five published books. They are: "Miracles for Michael," "Journey of the Promise," "Pages From the Past," "the Silent Patriot," and "Prince Etcheon and the Secret of the Ancient." I love to write, I love to paint and I love to work on my Family History.

Now to my post. I was a speaker at a writer's conference in Arizona some months ago, and today I would like to share with you some of the thoughts of my presentation.

I asked myself, "Wouldn't it be nice if writing was as simple as eating a chocolate bar or getting out of bed one morning and saying to your children, "Children, today I'm going to write a book so you will need to play quietly and fix your own lunch."

Then I asked myself some deeper questions, "How many of us would actually become authors if it were that simple? Would we write if there was no stretch or challenge? Isn't it the challenge that activates and stimulates our curiosity - our creativity - our imagination? aren't we a creative, curious, imaginative group?

In 1963, Alfred Kazin made the statement: "A writer writes to teach himself, to understand himself to satisfy himself. the publishing of his ideas, though it brings gratification, is curiously anti-climatic.

Who would think that having a book published could possibly be anti-climatic? But then, is it not the journey traveled as the story begins to unfold in the mind, and in the imagination, that brings true satisfaction?

We have all been asked, at one time or the other, what the recipe is to becoming a published author. So I did some research and this is what I discovered:

As Writers we learn to think for ourselves. We are honest in our writing. We have taught ourselves to read as a writer. We inspire ourselves to embrace the vision of being a creator and learn the skills we need to write compelling works. we have learned the importance of revision. We read, write, and we never, never give up. We think to get ideas. And if the ideas don't come, we think harder.

The author, Ayn Rand said, "the solution is alway to think over every aspect of the scene and every connection to anything relevant to the rest of the book. Think until you almost go to pieces; think until you are blank with exhaustion. Then, the next day, think again - until finally, one morning, you have the solution.

Rumer has it that creative people rely on effortless inspiration or spontaneity. Not true!!! It's persistence they rely on. Albert Einstein said, "I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times I'm wrong. the hundreth time, I'm right."

That's enough for today. Thank you for reading my post.

A Chance to Win "Mormon Mishaps and Mischief"

By Cindy Beck

In case you missed Jillayne Clements' post last night, we’re holding a giveaway here at the Writing Fortress. For your edification, let me just tell you what we are not giving away—a llama, Gila monster or night on the town with Burl Ives (which you'd probably appreciate not winning, since he's passed on).

Most, or possibly all of the prizes are real, live, printed-on-the-page books by authors here at the blog.

Unfortunately, the printed-on-the-page book that co-author, Nichole Giles, and I have written (with stories compiled from other great authors as well) won’t be out until December, but we wanted to give our 90 million readers a chance to win it.

What? We don’t have 90 million readers? Okay … 89.9 million.



Our book, Mormon Mishaps and Mischief: Hilarious Stories for Saints, contains humorous, true stories of Latter-day Saints that will have you holding your sides and laughing. It covers everything from bloopers at the pulpit and gaffes at priesthood camp outs to blunders during family home evening. The book makes a great gift for yourself, family, friends, or even a Christmas gift for your home teachers—when they finally show up on December 31.

How do you win a copy of Mormon Mishaps and Mischief? Just leave a comment on this blog entry and we’ll throw you into the random generator … well, not actually throw you, but your name (which will be assigned a number) into the mix and pull a winner two weeks from now, when Nichole posts her thoughts here. That person will win a copy of the book and we’ll send it when Mormon Mishaps and Mischief comes out in December.

Best of luck to each of you!

~ Cindy and Nichole

Cedar Fort Authors Present...The End of Summer Giveaway!

We would like to express our appreciation to the visitors of our blog by giving away some really cool, fun stuff. (Mostly our books, which are quite cool if we don't say so ourselves.)

How it works: Each of us on our blog day, in the first half of the month of August, will be giving away either a free copy of one of our books or some other kind of prize. If you wish to win one of our books or prizes, you may post a comment under our blog. You may also enter to win with more than one author. In the last half of the month, we will announce the winners on our blog day, get the addresses of those who won, and mail out the goods.

For example, let's say in the first or second week of August, you enter to win a really cool book by your favorite author. You post a comment under that author's blog like this: "I'd love to win a copy of your book! And by the way, you are totally amazing." The next two weeks are painfully long while you kill time, hoping with all hope that you'll win. Two weeks later to the day, you go to cedarfortauthors.blogspot.com and while reading that author's post that day, you find you actually won her book! Wow, your life is now complete...or at least it will be as soon as you get her your mailing address, receive her book in the mail, and read it while eating chocolate.

Thank you for stopping by our blogspot. We hope you have as much fun this month as we will!

The Cedar Fort Authors

LDS Bookseller's Convention

By Trina Boice


When my first LDS book was published, I received an invitation to do a book signing at the annual LDS Booksellers Association Convention in Sandy, Utah. I never even knew that such an event existed. I left feeling excited, rejuvinated and completely inspired.

The good news is that this year's convention starts tomorrow! It takes place August 3-7 at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy, Utah from 9:00 am - 4:30 pm. The bad news is that it is only open to members of the LDS Booksellers Assocation and their guests. See what you can do to become a guest!

By the way, Cedar Fort has a terrific reputation for consistently having one of the best booths and is always decked out with impressive decor to coordinate with the theme for the year. This year's theme is "Discovering Treasures." As readers, we all know the thrill of finding a hidden treasure in a great book, whether it be a fun character, inspiring word choice, exciting adventure, or a new mind-expanding idea. Great theme. I wonder if there will be lots of pirates holding books, wandering around the convention hall this year?

I'm telling you, this event is fantastic! My friends call me a giggler...that is to say that I get all giggly and groupie when I meet famous people. It's embarrassing, really. The convention hall overflows with LDS "celebrities" you can meet and have sign their books, music CD's, artwork or DVD's. I brought my camera and made a real idiot out of myself....so much fun.

I love meeting people who have worked hard at improving their talents and who are doing amazing things. It energizes me and motivates me to try harder. Zig Ziglar said "Duty makes us do things well, but love makes us do them beautifully." You get the sense that all of these great musicians, artists and authors truly love the gospel and are trying to use their talents to build the kingdom. I love that.

It's also extremely invigorating to see the latest, greatest, and newest LDS merchandise to hit the market. I absolutely thrill to be around people who are creating, dreaming, and contributing something positive to the world.

To see the schedule of events and learn more about the LDS Booksellers Association, check out their web site at http://www.ldsba.com

Hidden Treasures

By Christine Thackeray

My parents went on their mission to South Africa and told the story of a poor native boy who found a large unusual stone about the size of a human head and took it home with him. The family used it as a doorstop. One day years later two geologists came to his village and were surprised to discover the stone was one of the largest uncut diamonds ever found. For years the family had been scrounging for food and barely making ends meet when right below their noses they had something of such worth they could have been living in a palace.

I think too often we are the same way. We live our lives focusing on all the things we don't have or haven't done when there are treasures all around us that we either don't appreciate or don't even recognize.

I think one of those treasures for me has been finding my voice as a writer. I've given myself permission to explore the things I'm interested in at my own pace and it's been a delightful journey of discovery.

I'm curious what your diamonds are.